JD (U) Legislature Party today elected Nitish Kumar as its leader at a meeting attended by 97 of 111 JD(U) MLAs and 37 of the total 41 members of Legislative Council. Nitish Kumar,had resigned as Chief Minister in the wake of party’s disastrous performance in Lok Sabha polls in May last year.

Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II celebrated 63 years on the British throne as she neared the record set by Queen Victoria for the longest-reigning monarch.

Elizabeth became queen aged 25 on February 6, 1952.

Victoria reigned for 23,226 days, 16 hours and 23 minutes

Hakan Fidan

Turkey’s intelligence service chief, Hakan Fidan, one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s closest allies, has resigned to run in parliamentary elections in June.

Turkish National Intelligence Agency, known as the MIT.

He has also been a figure in the power struggle between Erdogan and U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

National Affairs

Delhi Assembly Elections 2015

A record 67.14 per cent turnout was registered today in the Delhi assembly polls

The voter turnout is 1.28 per cent higher than 65.86 per cent polling in 2013 Assembly elections.

The polling percentage was 65.07 in the Lok Sabha polls in April, 2014.

North East Delhi reported the highest voter turnout of 69.96 per cent, the lowest was in New Delhi with 64.16 per cent.

Gokalpur constituency in North West Delhi recorded the highest polling of 73.46 per cent while Delhi Cantt. recorded the lowest of 58.47 per cent.

Uttarakhand government today launched its ambitious “Himalaya Darshan” programme as part of its ongoing efforts to boost tourism in the state.

The idea behind the programme is to enable common people to fly around the beautiful mountains of Uttarakhand for Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000.

International Affairs

The leaders of Russia, Germany and France agreed during late-night talks in Moscow to draw up a plan to end fighting in Ukraine

North Korea has tested a new anti-ship cruise missile that can hit targets with “ultra-precision,”

The new Sri Lankan government ‘s interim budget, overseen by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, was passed with 163 votes for 1 against in the 225-member assembly.

Yemen’s Houthi rebel leader Abdel-Malak al-Houthi defended the takeover of power and said it filled a political “vacuum” and was in the interest of the Yemeni people.

Economy

The state owned Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) signed a MoU with Indian Rare Earth Ltd (IRE) to set up a mineral separation plant in Odisha’s Ganjam district.

Banking and Finance

Government of India has decided to infuse Rs.6990 crores in nine Public Sector Banks (PSBs) for which orders are being issued. The methodology for arriving the amount to be infused in these banks has been based on efficiency parameters.

First, weighted average of return on assets (ROA) for all PSBs for last three years put together was arrived at and all those who were above the average have been considered.

The second parameter that has been used is return on equity (ROE) for these banks for the last financial year. Those who have performed better than average have been rewarded.

Adani Group’s 16 billion dollar mining project in Australia’s Queensland state has been hit by controversy over the ultimate ownership of the Abbot Point Port lease which reportedly could be controlled by a complex network of companies.

Telecom operator Reliance Jio Infocomm President Sumit D Chowdhury has resigned from the company

Uber is launching a “panic button” and other safety features for users in India that allows a rider to alert the local police at the push of a button in case of an emergency.

The Swiss surveillance authority for medicines “Swissmedic” today checked for any corresponding preparations of the 700 generic medicines subjected to clinical trials by India’s GVK Biosciences, whose marketing rights were suspended by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

The theme is “Management of Water Related Disorders – Urban and Rural”

Science and Technology

The research published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases said that More than 180 million people in the world have hepatitis C, compared with the 34 million with HIV/AIDS and the roughly 30,000 who have had Ebola.

Sports

Viswanathan Anand defeated by Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the fourth round of Grenke Chess Classic

Legal

US-based finance company Mirach today asked Sahara to make a “formal apology” for tarnishing its image, and demanded over USD 13 million in compensation for breach of contract.